Last year, I checked the 5 day forecast early in May, and saw that we were supposed to have a glorious sunshiny day in the high 70’s. That’s not typical New England weather this time of year, so I was giddy. I decided I would take a day off from work and enjoy the sunshine with my daughter Elle (who was 2 at the time).
I started browsing my friend Google for “things to do in New England” or something along those lines. I wanted to do something different, something fun. And that’s when I stumbled upon Wicked Tulips Flower Farm in Johnston, RI.
I have never heard of this place, and I was mesmerized by the photos. Tulips are by far my favorite flowers, so I was excited to have “discovered” this place. I took a day off, and went on the Wicked Tulips website to see how and when I should buy the tickets.
SOLD OUT it said. Huh? What do you mean SOLD OUT? I started browsing some more. Surely this was a mistake. Turned out it wasn’t. Apparently this place was VERY popular. Still, I decided to call the farm to see if maybe… maybe I could get tickets when I actually got there.
Nope, just like everyone else, I got a recording. I sulked for a while, browsed their Facebook page to see if anyone had a last minute change of heart and wanted to sell their ticket to me, but NO. SUCH. LUCK. Elle and I ended up going to Boston, and had a great time, and saw the tulips at the Boston Public Garden, but I knew that I would have to be well prepared for 2019 season.
So here are my TOP 10 tips for before and during your visit to Wicked Tulips Flower Farm:
1. Sign up to get their newsletter. You can do that right here. Just scroll to the bottom right corner.
2. Follow Wicked Tulips on Instagram and Facebook, they post updates on there of their expected opening day.
3. Last week of April, keep an eye out for an email from Wicked Tulips. If you have signed up for their Newsletter, you will get an email with a special link to order the tickets early, before they go live on their website to the general public.
4. Pick a day to go and buy the tickets. Children ages 3 and under are free. Children ages 4-17 are $3 but don’t include U-Pick Tulips. Children tickets also never sell out! Adult tickets are $17 (weekends) and $15 (weekdays) and include 10 U-Pick Tulips. You can also buy additional stems at $1 per tulip.
5. The farm opens at 10 am, and I would most definitely recommend getting there when they open to avoid the massive crowds. It gets busy.
6. I would also recommend coming earlier in their short season, rather than later. The season is only about 3 weeks, so if you go toward the end, there will be very few U-Pick Tulips to pick from.
7. If it is a beautiful sunny day, you can pack a picnic and use one of their picnic tables to enjoy an outdoor lunch. Alcohol is not allowed.
8. If it ends up raining (like it did for us), make the best of it, but wear rain boots. Definitely wear rain boots. It got very muddy, in the fields and especially the parking lot.
9. They provide adorable wicker baskets for picking tulips, but when the baskets run out (which is often), you are left with a red bucket. So if you are looking for picturesque photos, you may want to bring your own pretty basket, just in case you are left with only the red buckets.
10. Finally, make a day of it. We spend about an hour and a half picking tulips and then admiring the show garden. You can take some gorgeous photos there, but cannot pick the tulips there.
After we were done, we drove 25 minutes to Providence Place Mall (we had to get out of the rain), and enjoyed some games at Dave and Busters, followed by an early dinner at Cheesecake Factory. If it’s a sunny day, head over to Thayer St. in Providence or walk around Brown University. Then for dinner head to Federal Hill for some amazing Italian food.
Hope you all get to go in 2020! See you there!
Xo, Anastasia
